Star Wars Mail-A-Way Promotions
For many of us that grew up with the original line of Star Wars, one of the things remembered are the mail-a-way promotions offered either in stores or on various cardbacks/fronts. For a lot of kids this was another very fun and exciting aspect to the Star Wars era. I vividly recall saving the UPCs and waiting for the next offer I could send for, waiting for what seemed an eternity to a child for that package addressed to you to arrive. Looking back now many of those carded figures with special offerings are a collectable subset in their own right, but what were those offers again? I will go into what was offered and when,
First up was the original mail in offer, the early bird figure set. To capitalize on the Christmas season, Kenner found themselves without product but rather than miss the sales season, they created a special package for a mail in redemption, Essentially what the buyer received was a form to send in for the 4 figure set of Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and R2D2 as well as figure stand pegs.
The first cardback offer was the Action Collectors Stand, this was offered on Star Wars 12A, 12B and 12C versions. It consisted of 2 ways to redeem UPCs for it, the first way was 2 UPCs and $2.00 or 12UPCs and no funds. The Figire stand would arrive ion a plain cardboard box and consisted of the grey plastic stand for placement of 12 figures, a backdrop with X-wing fighter being chased by a Tie fighter depiction, a sticker sheet of the first 12 figure names plates and an instruction booklet.
Next was the infamous Boba Fett figure offer. This was offered on the Star Wars 20C,20D,20E,20F,20G cardbacks. The cardback can also be noted as depicting the rocket firing kit-bashed Fett rather than the final production version of the figure. Contrary to popular urban myth, NO rocket firing Fetts were sent out to consumers, this was due to product recalls with the Battlestar Galactica line where a 4 year old boy choked to death on the firing missile. This was obtained by sending in 4 UPCs
The third promotion was the Secret Figure offer. This secret figure turned out to be Bossk. This was offered on Star Wars 20H 21C and ESB 21A.He was mailed in a white mailer and obtained by sending in 4 UPCs.
The fourth offer was the Survival Kit offered on ESB 41A cards. This consisted of 1 grappling hook and belt, 1 Jedi training harness, 2 hoth backpacks, 3 gasmasks, 5 weapons. This was mailed to recipients in a white mailer after sending in 5 UPCs.
The fifth was the Display Arena. This was offered on the ESB 45A card. It consisted of 3 white L shaped floor pieces and 4 double sided display backgrounds. This was mailed in a brown cardboard mailer and was obtained by sending in 10 UPCs and $2.00
The sixth offering was the 4-LOM figure offered on the ESB 47 card. This arrived in a white mailer and was obtained by sending in 5 UPCs.
The seventh was Admiral Ackbar and was offered on the ESB 48B and 48C cards. He arrived in a white mailer and was obtained by sending in 6 UPCS. Also of note this offer was for a figure from the upcoming Revenge of the Jedi movie, obviously later to change to Return of the Jedi.
The eighth offer was Nein Nunb offered on the Return of the Jedi 48A. Obtained my sending in 5 UPCs and mailed to you in a white mailer.
The ninth offering was for the Emperor figure, this was offered on the ROTJ 65C card. Mailed to you in a white mailer by sending in 5 UPCs
The 10th and final figure mail in was for Anakin Skywalker. This was offered on the ROTJ 65D, 77B, 79B, 79C cards. Mailed to you in a white mailer by redeeming 5 UPCs.
The final mail in promotion was for a Star Wars coin. By sending in 1 UPC with accompanying dated sales receipt and the sticker offer from the card you would receive 1 coin. The coin line up is another huge subset of collecting and many of the coins could only be obtained through the mail in promotion as many were never offered on the POTF cards. This made trying to complete a set near impossible and many collectors to this day are still assembling the complete set.
